Cerulean Balloons
by SarahShalomDavid
Summary: Andrea and the girls throw a surprise birthday party for Miranda, meanwhile, Emily is convinced the idea is doomed.


"You are insane,'' Emily muttered with a roll of her eyes and a heavy sigh, "She's going to fire you… No, actually, she's going to throw you out of the window".

Andrea rolled her eyes in return and shook her head, "Don't be such a drama queen".

Emily glanced around at her surroundings quickly before she turned her attention back to the other assistant in front of her, "You can not be serious about this".

"Oh, but I am", Andrea said with a grin.

"No, you can not", Emily stated with a shake of her head, "You can not be serious about throwing a surprise birthday party for Miranda". "Did I mention the part where she will kill you?", Emily questioned, "Then I'll have to try and find a replacement for her _Andréa_".

Andrea simply laughed, "It will be fine".

Emily rolled her eyes, "Well at least get rid of those godforsaken balloons".

The brunette woman looked around the meeting room, "As you say,'' she said softly, "Shant".

"She will kill you and there is nothing I can do to save you", Emily started as she looked at the cerulean blue balloons at the centre of the large wall. "She doesn't celebrate her birthday and she definitely doesn't do it at Runway", Emily ranted, "And especially with her age on show for everyone to see in shiny 6ft tall balloons!".

Andrea looked at the numbers '5' and '0' against the wall and shrugged, "Maybe she doesn't celebrate because nobody has thrown her a party before?".

Emily thought about it and shook her head, "You're mad", she highlighted, "Actually, no, you're utterly insane".

Andrea looked around at the meeting room which had been transformed with the cerulean and silver decor. A table at one side had been designated for gifts which were already piling up. Another table had been filled with food, including a chocolate fountain, whilst another had drinks; which included a champagne fountain. The chocolate fountain was mostly for the Editor's twin daughters.

"Wow!", a twin gasped from the doorway before the second copied.

"Great,'' Emily mumbled, still not forgetting all of the pranks that they had carried out on her.

The two girls ignored Emily and ran straight to Andrea, embracing the woman tightly. Since the Harry Potter incident, the girls had grown casually closer to the woman. It was to the point that they both insisted on her attending their recitals and school events.

It wasn't long before the meeting room was filled with people.

Miranda found it odd that there were so few people on the floors of Runway as she made her way back from her meeting with Irv. She left her files on her desk and picked up the file she needed for her next meeting, or at least what she thought she needed for the meeting. The Editor-in-Chief looked at her second assistant's desk and frowned, she was wondering where the woman had vanished to.

She found herself trailing her fingers lightly over the woman's desk before shaking her head with a sigh and making her way out.

She thought it was a little odd that the blinds were closed in the meeting room, as they rarely ever were, but she moved forward anyway. Miranda opened the door with confidence and stepped into the room.

As the door opened, the people inside cheered, 'Happy Birthday' rather loudly.

Miranda's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the sight and sound, but upon seeing Andrea and the girls in the middle of it all, she could not help but smile.

The smile shocked Emily, who had expected a dramatically opposite reaction.

"Happy Birthday Mommy", the two youngest girls happily shouted as they ran to her.

Miranda happily bent down and scooped them both into her ams to hug them tightly, "Thank you girls,'' she said softly.

"Mommy!", Cassidy said with excitement, "Come and see the chocolate fountain, we got to choose it".

"And we got to help with the decorations", Caroline added.

"Andy let us help with everything", Cassidy said happily.

"She helped us with your presents too", Caroline whispered, as if that part was a secret, before adding, "and there are more at home because she helped us to make some too".

"Well, I look forward to opening them", Miranda said with a smile, "Especially the ones you've made".

The girls were grinning happily as their mother spoke and it didn't take long before she was being pulled towards the chocolate fountain.

To Emily's further shock, the woman quite happily picked up a skewer and put a few pieces of fruit on it before willingly dipping it into the chocolate fountain. She ate the chocolate dipped fruit and encouraged her daughters to do the same.

Andrea grinned before leaning over to whisper, "Told you so", she said with a smug look.

Emily rolled her eyes and mumbled her annoyance rather quietly.

Andrea carried on smiling as she watched Miranda enjoying the chocolate fountain with her children.

The other people in the room had begun to enjoy the food and drink whilst they all conversed in smaller groups.

Later that afternoon, once the majority of people had left to get back to work, Miranda approached Andrea with a soft smile on her face. "Andrea, I understand that you've altered my schedule to allow me to go home early and spend time with the girls, " she said softly, "And I would very much like if you could join us.''

Andrea nodded, "Yes, Miranda,'' she said softly.

Cassidy and Caroline both cheered from behind Miranda making Andrea laugh and Miranda smile. The girls were both clearly excited and happy at Andrea going with them.

When Miranda stepped into the elevator, the girls joined her and she tilted her head slightly to signal that Andrea should join them too.

Andrea could not help but smile as she stepped on to the elevator with the three of them.

As the doors closed, Miranda whispered a soft, "Thank you, Andrea, " before admitting quietly, "nobody has ever taken the time to plan a surprise birthday party for me… It is very much appreciated, especially bringing in my bobseys".

"Well, there was no way that I'd leave them out of the planning", Andrea said with a smile.

"Well, thank you", Miranda said softly as she gently reached out her hand, and for a brief moment, took her hand into her own.

Andrea found herself smiling to herself as Cassidy took her other hand.

When they were downstairs, Miranda momentarily put her hand on Andrea's lower back to encourage her to get in first.

Inside the car, Andrea found herself sandwiched between Cassidy and Miranda for a moment before the former decided to sit in her lap.

Andrea wrapped her arms around Cassidy protectively in an embrace and held her close to her whilst leaning her head against the girl's.

Miranda found herself smiling as she mentally captured the image in her mind. She then found herself grateful when it triggered Caroline to do the same with her. Caroline had climbed into Miranda's lap, for the first time in years and happily leaned into her. The Editor-in-Chief happily wrapped her arms around her daughter and found herself moving a little closer to her assistant.

They spent the journey listening to the girls excitedly telling them all about the party planning and all of the other ideas they had.

When they got home, the girls disappeared to gather the presents that they had made for their mother. They were putting them out on the table in the den, so the two women were not allowed upstairs quite yet.

The two of them were in the kitchen when Miranda stepped closer to Andrea, "Thank you again for today", she said softly.

"It was no problem, really,'' Andrea said softly.

Miranda smiled softly, "Nobody has ever done that for me… Not even my ex-husbands, " she mentioned, "So, I'm curious… Why?".

"Why what?", Andrea asked cautiously.

"Why throw me a surprise party?", she asked softly.

"Because the girls wanted to celebrate your birthday", Andrea answered slowly.

"Oh… Is that all?", Miranda questioned.

Andrea bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before adding, "And because… I wanted to celebrate it."

"But why?", Miranda prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"Because…, " Andrea sighed, "Why do you want to know?".

"Because", she said confidently as she stepped closer and cupped them woman's cheek, "If I'm right then there may be a chance that the birthday wish that I made when I blew out those candles at Runway could come true".

"What did you wish for?", Andrea asked softly.

Miranda looked into Andrea's eyes for a moment and stepped even closer to her, "You,'' she whispered before taking the chance and kissing the other woman gently.

Andrea smiled into the kiss before kissing her back and pulling her closer to her, "Because I love you", she eventually admitted, "I wanted to celebrate your birthday because I love you".

"I love you too, my Andréa, " she said softly as she kissed her again but a little more passionately.

From upstairs they heard two sets of footsteps running their way before their names were called,

"Honestly, I don't know how you're going to top my birthday next year, " Miranda commented with a wink as she walked away from Andrea and put an extra sway in her step.

"Maybe I'll have to propose, " came the response as Andrea passed her on her way towards the next floor, leaving Miranda behind with a dropped jaw.


End file.
